Cross-posted from "The more things change, the more they stay the same."

By the time emergency responders arrived, the teenager was already dead. The scene was one of horror and trauma, with visibly shaken workers gathered outside the facility. Tina’s Burritos--a budget frozen food brand which markets its products with the slogan “Made in California”--has issued no public statement on the death of its employee.

by Caitlin Johnstone Jul 18, 2025

Coders spent more time prompting and reviewing AI generations than they saved on coding. On the surface, METR's results seem to contradict other benchmarks and experiments that demonstrate increases in coding efficiency when AI tools are used. But those often also measure productivity in terms of total lines of code or the number of discrete tasks/code commits/pull requests completed, all of which can be poor proxies for actual coding efficiency. These factors lead the researchers to conclude that current AI coding tools may be particularly ill-suited to "settings with very high quality standards, or with many implicit requirements (e.g., relating to documentation, testing coverage, or linting/formatting) that take humans substantial time to learn." While those factors may not apply in "many realistic, economically relevant settings" involving simpler code bases, they could limit the impact of AI tools in this study and similar real-world situations.

The Environmental Protection Agency said on Friday that it would eliminate its scientific research arm and begin firing hundreds of chemists, biologists, toxicologists and other scientists, after denying for months that it intended to do so.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/texan-moved-fam-to-russia-to-flee-wokenow-hes-headed-to-ukraine-front-line/

Via Li Chen's Mastodon.

The move represents a trend in Congress during Donald Trump's second term. Republican lawmakers across the ideological spectrum keep casting votes in favor of bills even while warning that they’re deeply flawed and may require fixing down the road. In some cases, lawmakers explicitly threaten to vote “no” on bills before eventually folding and voting “yes.”

Public support for Ishiba's administration has tumbled to its lowest level since he took office in October, partly because of frustration over the cost of living.

On Friday, more than 200 Venezuelans disappeared to a megaprison in El Salvador returned home. The horror stories are already emerging.

I didn't think my cats would care, but since my dog died, Maze has been ... Aggressively affectionate. To the point that I need to shoo her away if I need any alone time. She wasn't this loving any time over her past fifteen years or so of life and didn't seem like she cared about the dog, but she's been completely transformed since then.

LibreOffice has been on the offensive lately, taking the time to call out Microsoft and its practices whenever it can. Now, it is at it again, accusing Microsoft of "intentionally" using "unnecessarily complex" file formats to achieve user lock-in with its Microsoft 365 (Office) documents.

For decades, allies of the United States lived comfortably amid the sprawl of American hegemony. They constructed their financial institutions, communications systems, and national defense on top of infrastructure provided by the US.

The only ones willing to stand up. Real artists doing what artists should do. I've been listening to both these bands. I'd love to see a show in Canada.

Modified headline to try to make it more understandable, but may have failed at that

Hey y'all, I know getting a setup that feels "right" can be a process. We all have different goals, tech preferences, etc.

Snip:

non-paywall link: https://archive.is/Ea7hb

The burned soil spits out tails of smoke through the thick layer of black ash covering its surface, stretching from the stone crosses dotting the tombs of the village cemetery to the ancient walls of a 4th-century Byzantine church. Israeli settlers were here last Monday, July 7, inside the urban perimeter of the village. They left their mark by setting fire to the surroundings of the historic Church of al-Khader (Saint George), the most sacred site for the people of the village.

bluesky source

bluesky source

…with carrots, mushrooms and onions and marinated in sake before cooking. Served over plain rice. Delicious even though the mushrooms got stuck under the skin.

It’s not Squid Game — at least not according to the way Netflix ranks its programming. Adolescence, the critically acclaimed U.K. limited series that earned 13 Emmy nominations earlier this week, takes the crown with 144.8 million views worldwide since its March 13 premiere.

Maiquetía (Venezuela) (AFP) – Venezuela on Friday received seven children who had been left behind in the United States after their parents were deported by the Donald Trump administration.

Huda Skaik July 7 2025

The most depressing news of the week: Intel is ending their performance-optimized Clear Linux distribution. Over the past decade the Clear Linux operating system has shown what's possible with out-of-the-box performance on x86_64 hardware... Not just for Intel platforms but even showing extremely great performance results on AMD x86_64 too. But with the cost-cutting going on at Intel, Clear Linux is now being sunset.

Maurice Quentin de La Tour (French pronunciation: [mɔʁis kɑ̃tɛ̃ də la tuʁ]; 5 September 1704 – 17 February 1788) was a French painter who worked primarily with pastels in the Rococo style. Among his most famous subjects were Voltaire, Rousseau, Louis XV and the Madame de Pompadour.

Jeffrey Epstein’s little black book is one of the most cursed documents ever compiled in this miserable, dying country.

A 61-year-old man who suffered critical injuries after being pulled into an MRI machine while wearing a metal chain has died, police said Friday.